I wasn’t really even sure what I was getting when OxyLED contacted me and asked if I wanted to review their Solar Garden Lights. But as usual, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to give them a try. Honestly, I like them better than I thought I would.

What are solar garden lights?

If you’re a little in the dark like I was about solar garden lights, let me quickly explain what they are. They are basically wireless accent lights (you get three of them in the box) that you can stick in the ground anywhere you want. Because they are wireless, they get their power from little solar panels on top of the lights.

I was a little skeptical at first about the solar panels since I previously reviewed some outdoor lights that were really bright the first night but then got gradually dimmer each night as they couldn’t get enough solar energy to fully recharge them each day. That wasn’t the case with the OxyLED Solar Garden Lights. Each night I check them, they are as bright as the first night I turned them on.

Choice of light

Much like some people like multi-colored lights on their Christmas tree and others prefer all white light, the OxyLED Solar Garden Lights give you a choice between both. With the flip of a switch, you can either have the lights a steady white or a series of rotating colored lights.

I only wish the OxyLED Solar Garden Lights came with better instructions as the switch to turn the lights on and to choose either white or color is inside the light. You need to pop off the plastic top cover to get to this switch. That wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the very brief instruction manual that came with the lights but it didn’t take me but a minute or two to figure it out for myself.

Don’t make the same mis-“stake” I made

Speaking of the instruction manual, nowhere did it mention how to stick the lights into the ground. So seeing that the lights right out of the box had a black plastic pole attached to them, I shoved the black pole part right into the ground. It seemed a little difficult to push into the ground and the lights seemed a little low to the ground but I just thought that’s how they were made.

Only a few days later when I decided to move one light to a new location did I realize there is another section to the pole tucked inside the attached black pole. I assume this is to save space during shipping. So the correct way to place the OxyLED Solar Garden Lights into the ground is to first pull the second stake piece out of the attached piece and then pop the two pieces together. The second piece is tapered and goes into the ground much easier (trust me) and as you would expect it to. This also puts the lights at the height you would expect them to be at.

Butterfly pattern

The last thing I want to point out regarding the OxyLED Solar Garden Lights is that the outside of the white plastic top has a die cut butterfly pattern. This gives it more of the garden feel OxyLED was probably going for when they designed the lights.

For whatever reason, I thought the butterfly pattern would cause the light to project out onto something but it doesn’t. It just creates a nice, soothing, pattern to look at and allows the light to escape and thus illuminate your garden, pathway or whatever else you are trying to light.

Weather proof… sort of

The OxyLED Solar Garden Lights are supposed to be able to resist normal weather like rain and other moisture. But they are not designed to handle full immersion in water. Because of this and because I live in the midwest, I will probably pull the lights out of the ground and put them away for storage in the winter since I don’t think they will handle two or three feet of snow piled on top of them.

Affordable outdoor lighting

If you’re looking for cheap outdoor accent lights that require no wiring, almost zero effort to install and just as little maintenance, the OxyLED Solar Garden Lights probably fit the bill. As of this writing, they go for $17.99 on Amazon.

Patric Welch founded Noobie, Inc. in 2006 to help others effectively choose and use technologies to enhance their work and lives. The catchy company name earned Welch the name of Mr. Noobie®, but, in reality, Welch is an experienced and professional techie. Unlike most techies, Welch evaluates emerging technologies from a noobie’s perspective and provides technology education for all skill levels in a friendly, non-threatening way.